INNOVATION. The Higher Education Languages Landscape: Ensuring Quality in English Language Degree Programmes BUSINESS ANALYSIS LOOL

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1 The Higher Education Languages Landscape: Ensuring Quality in English Language Degree Programmes David Marsh Víctor Pavón Vázquez María Jesús Frigols Martín INNOVATION PRODUCT IDEAS TREND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT REVOLUTION PROCESS SOURCE SEARCH LEADERSHIP ROBOT DATA NEW MARKET MODEL VALUE COMPUTER SMART PATENT PRODUCT NEW BUSINESS ANALYSIS LOOL RESEARCH INTELLECT

2 The Higher Education Languages Landscape Ensuring Quality in English Language Degree Programmes Legal Deposit Editor Design and Multimedia Contents Department Valencian International University Photographs Fotolia Authors David Marsh Víctor Pavón Vázquez María Jesús Frigols Martín Year of publication 2013

3 Biodata David Marsh Dr David Marsh specializes in languages, communication and education. Recently he has been instrumental in enabling educational change management in dual language educational environments. As an author, researcher and teacher, he has worked in higher education for over 30 years in lecturing, management and coordination roles, often with experts in trans-national analytic, research and development teams. In the last 10 years his major tasks have involved researcher, project manager, facilitator and advisory roles. These have been for European Commission-funded tasks, corporations, and government agencies across the world. A long-standing area of personal and professional interest has been on innovative practices in education where English is adopted as the medium of instruction. He has a significant history of research and professional development in this field covering both higher and basic education. This interest has led to assignments in a range of European Union countries, East Asia, the Middle East, South America, sub-saharan Africa and the USA. In 2008, he was awarded a joint commendation for HRH The Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book Award of the English-Speaking Union, and, in 2009, The Estonian Education Sciences Award for Applied Didactics. Having published extensively he is co-author of Uncovering CLIL, Oxford: Macmillan 2008, Content and Language Integrated Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, and co-editor of Quality Interfaces: Examining Evidence & Exploring Solutions in CLIL, Eichstätt Academic Press He is author of The CLIL Trajectory: Educational innovation for the 21st Century igeneration, Córdoba: Córdoba Academic Press Acting as Advisor on Education (Strategy and Policy) in the Prime Minister s Office of the United Arab Emirates during 2012, he is now based in Jyväskylä, Finland. He is continuously interested in forging links with those interested in the professional development of higher education staff involved with degree programmes provided in English. 3

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5 Biodata Víctor Pavón Vázquez Víctor Pavón Vázquez holds a PhD in Modern Languages. As an academic at the University of Córdoba (Spain), he has had a long experience of examining how English is developed and used in different contexts. Most recently he is coordinating an innovative programme of professional development for academic staff, and teachers in schools, who are involved with education through the medium of English. This bilingual programme at the University of Córdoba is a significant initiative which serves wider adoption of English in higher education throughout Spain. As an author, researcher and lecturer, he is active in education development programmes in Europe and beyond, having recently been engaged with assignments in Cape Verde and Turkmenistan. His current interests focus on research and development for capacity building of higher education, and subsequent competence building of staff to support organisational internationalization processes as part of the objectives of the European Higher Education Area. 5

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7 Biodata María Jesús Frigols Martín María Jesús Frigols Martin (DEA) is Head of Institutional and International Relations and the Languages Department, and coordinator for CLIL Studies at the Valencian International University (VIU). She currently works on change management in higher education, innovation in language learning, and competence-building in bilingual education. Since 2000, she has been part of global teams exploring ways in which to upgrade education through Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). This has involved tasks and missions in a range of countries in Europe, Canada, the Middle East, South America, and the USA. Having been in an advisory capacity at the Board of Education in Valencia, Spain, she now acts in consultancy roles in the public and private sectors. She is closely linked to the design and evaluation of European educational development work, and from she coordinated an international team leading to the development of the European Framework for CLIL Teacher Education (EFCT) for the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe. During she collaborated with the international research team responsible for the publication of The Contribution of Multilingualism to Creativity (European Commission) reporting on meta-research analysis of the available evidence of impact of languages on the brain and mind. She was awarded a joint commendation by the English Speaking Union in 2008 for publishing work on CLIL, and a 2009 Estonian Education Sciences Award for Applied Didactics. She is co-author of Uncovering CLIL (Macmillan 2008). In she is active in the development of technologically advanced learning environments in higher education as one pillar of the globalization of higher education. Her involvement with this publication has partly derived from working on policy, legislation and practice for the transformational processes now impacting on European higher education. 7

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9 Introduction This book is about fostering educational transformation in higher education. Globalization and the Information Age have placed higher education at a crossroads. A new challenge facing many universities is enhanced competitiveness through internationalization and innovation. One response is the introduction of degree programmes provided in English. The use of the term university here includes non-university higher education providers that offer degree programmes. The book describes key actions and processes that are required to successfully launch and operate higher education degree programmes provided in English. Drawing on research extending over fifteen years when universities in certain European countries, notably Finland, Germany and the Netherlands, pioneered the introduction of English-taught degree programmes, it describes 26 key levers that are decisive for success. The levers described carry different weighting in terms of significance and importance. Bundled together they are instrumental in ensuring quality outcomes. This book contains a blueprint for action, but is designed to be adaptable to the environment in which the university operates. Drawing on an emergent evidence-base, we can see that management of these levers determines success, failure, or a state of incremental mediocrity. These levers do not only apply to universities where the domestic language is one other than English. It is also relevant to universities in English-speaking Ireland, the UK, the USA and New Zealand. In the late 1990s when countries started embarking on English-taught degree programmes, a major driver was internationalization of the domestic environment. Now in 2013, things have changed considerably. Globalization has threatened the status quo, and one characteristic has been for national governments to radically reform the legal and operational structures of higher education. A primus motor is to enhance the domestic environment through attracting high calibre international students, and to source funding. In Europe, the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has also been a significant force in this respect. Competitiveness, national and international, and pressure to attract funding is driving universities to not only undergo change, but also be marketed internationally. Statistics prove this to be the case. 9

10 Recent UK figures show that in 2012 some 30% of Oxford University (UK) students were from outside the country. The London School of Economics reports 70% international students, alongside 40% international academic staff. Overall some 45% of post-graduate students are international with a contribution to the UK economy estimated at 9 bn. The marketization of universities in these countries is extensive, and with fees of some paid for laboratory-based subjects, the financial implications are evident (1). UNESCO reports that in 2009 there were more than 2. 5 m students studying outside their countries, a figure projected to increase to 7m by 2020 (2). The main destinations are the USA, UK, and Australia, whilst Germany and France also have a long history of involvement. What is particularly interesting now is the sharp increase of international students seen recently in countries such as New Zealand, Korea, The Netherlands, Greece, Spain and Italy. Introduction Click-In where you see the number in the text above: (1) ducation-exports.pdf (2) There are ever-more players in the field and English language as the medium of instruction is what is frequently common to all. In addition, there are strategic moves in certain countries, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, to become regional education hubs exclusively serving fee-paying international students. These drivers also strengthen uptake of English as the medium of instruction in higher education. Right now we are witnessing the steady increase of English-taught degree programmes where the domestic language is not English, alongside global competition between universities in attracting in international students. Universities worldwide are clearly in a state of rapid change, the language landscapes are changing, and the stakes are high. In this short book, we purposefully avoid discussing the top-down and grassroots pressures, arguments, and controversies surrounding the role, profile, and ultimately the future make-up of internationalized universities. We also do not make comment on the adoption of English in education across the world. This is done by others elsewhere. What we do is to provide a succinct research-driven practical account of levers that need to be considered for achieving quality teaching and learning outcomes. We are in the midst of the biggest global change process facing basic and higher education for over a century. Adoption of English can be a catalyst for considerable change, especially in those universities that have not yet adapted to the challenges, demands, and opportunities coming from external environments. Countries and regions which have rapidly transformed their basic educational systems and which score highly on 10

11 international educational assessments, such as Finland, Singapore, Canada (Alberta) pulled similar levers to ensure enriched learning environments as key drivers for achieving high quality results. The levers described in this book are not wholly dissimilar. They concern activating good systemic, educational, and interpersonal practices so as to develop and sustain high-level professional capital within the university. 11

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13 CHAPTER 1 Governance & Strategy Lever 1 University Language Policy A Language Policy formally states the position of the university on the use of different languages. Rather than being merely a mission statement it can act as a key tool that enables the creation of a Language Plan. Whereas the policy is linked to overall strategy, the plan describes how steps are taken to ensure successful outcomes. It outlines the optimal use of different languages, and includes a road map for all stakeholders that is embedded in the constitution of the university. The road map will contain differing actions, some of which will be short-term, others longer-term. These include controlling the volume and type of programmes taught in a 13

14 specific language; developing marketing strategies for attracting students from other countries; upgrading the volume and quality of research publications; and enabling student and staff mobility, amongst others. In previous research it is clear that neither policy nor plans exist in certain universities operating English-taught degree programmes. Whereas the policy needs to be crafted by professionals and launched by senior management, the plan requires multi-disciplinary input. A frequent mistake has been to assume that language specialists working alone should take responsibility for constructing a plan. The problem here is that both policy and plan may have far-reaching impact on the university community as a whole. Inter-disciplinary central-level actors have to be involved. CHAPTER 1 Governance & Strategy The experience of bilingual universities can provide excellent models of both policy and plans. Take a look at: University of Pretoria: Lever 2 Programme Objectives One of the surprising insights we have gained from research and consultancy over the years is that degree programmes may be provided in English without specific objectives explicitly established. The most frequent word used to answer why are we running this programme? is internationalization. But this word often lacks substance. The programme objectives need to be linked to the skills and competences resulting from participation, and the spin-off activities such as staff publishing in English, mobility, and collaborative teaching input (increasingly interinstitutional and using VoIP-type technologies). If a nursing programme is taught through English in a German institution, financed mainly through federal/national funds, then the objectives will clearly differ from those of an engineering doctoral programme in the Netherlands financed through student fees. The key issue here is to be explicit on the programme goals. These may include income-generation for the university as a whole, benefits for students and staff, international ranking, and added value for the surrounding environment. 14

15 If we take a country like Finland that launched English-taught degree programmes in the late 1990s, one major objective was to swiftly provide domestic students with competences in English alongside development of intercultural communication skills, whether for working life in Finland or other countries. Finland was experiencing a major economic crisis due to a debt-based economic boom and banking crisis, and undergoing severe austerity measures. The situation was a microcosm of the European sovereign debt crisis of 2008 onwards. Teaching through English was one of the levers which higher education successfully deployed by which to contribute to the revival of a depressed economy. In this particular case the objectives were clearly aimed at enhancing the working life skills of domestic students. Once the objectives are comprehensive, the status of the programme will be heightened across all stakeholders. In addition, weaknesses in the programme delivery are more easily identified and rectified. One typical challenge relates to student s attitudes towards teaching staff. Lever 3 Programme Language Plan A degree programme inevitably involves a range of staff, and various possibilities for combining subjects, and providing options, depending on the course structure and institution. The English-taught degree programme requires a language plan of its own, which will be complementary to the larger university policy and plan. The programme language plan is required during the planning and start-up phase. It will be subjected to amendment, particularly in the first years. Later it can be absorbed into the university plan, but at the beginning it is a necessity for ensuring a smooth and collaborative transition into English medium. The design of the language plan needs to be multi-disciplinary with language specialists taking a lead role. Change Management 15

16 There are choices to be made and constraints to be faced. Frequent questions at this stage are: Should the programme be fully monolingual? Should it be bilingual? Could staff contribute who do not have sufficient competences in using English language? Should staff be subjected to language testing before being given significant teaching roles in the programme? Which solution to use in assessing incoming students English language competences? Is this a modular generalist programme, part of which can be included in other degree programmes held in the national language? Should certain parts of the course be supported by national language formative assessment for home-based students? Are there extra technical requirements that would facilitate teaching and learning? CHAPTER 1 Governance & Strategy These are just a few of the issues that need to be worked through during the planning stages and then made visible as actions to be taken in the language plan. As a tool the programme language plan is likely to be short and recommendation-based. Lever 4 English Language Fluency This is a central and contentious issue. It involves a range of teaching and administrative staff, and students. A key issue is in understanding that teaching successfully goes beyond a specific level of fluency in a language as determined by a standardized language text such as IELTS or TOEFL. Another challenge relates to attitudes towards language and communication. For example, people may have preju dices such as assuming that a certain type of non-native speaker accent indicates a lack of fluency compared to those of native speakers. It is a problem area that needs to be handled with pragmatism and sensitivity. And as a point in case, all native speakers have accents, and some of these can be very hard to follow even by second language students with a high degree of fluency in English language. The language environment needs to be sophisticated and comprehensible. It also needs to be free of any linguicism. Developing linguistic competence to teach and learn subject matter that is cognitively demanding, is an ongoing process. As with using the first language, educators constantly need to give attention to eloquence, communication and accuracy in their use of language. 16

17 Therefore, anyone working through the medium of English needs to view it as an emergent and constantly evolving competence. In our experience teaching staff that are able to be self-reflective about both their ability to use English, and their teaching skills when using the language, become excellent educators. They are also, often, the most satisfied with their personal experience of teaching through English. Higher education staff may not respond well to be asked to show evidence of English language proficiency as is practiced in some countries where TOEFL 550 is a common benchmark. As stated above available tests may not reflect a person s English communication skills in situ. What teaching staff need is to know where they stand as a lecturer, a tutor, when speaking, writing and communicating in English. One way to start this process is to examine how they communicate in the domestic language. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to have all staff undertake some form of carefully orchestrated professional development seminar where they are filmed teaching in short sequences. These film sequences can then be used to help determine strengths of English language use, and give insights into what may need to be further developed. Such sessions can be considered as consultancy or mediation, not training. But they are necessary, even for staff members who consider themselves to be highly fluent in the language, because all staff members need to cater for diverse levels of competence within the student cohorts. Adapting one s use of English is often a prerequisite for success, and this is not easy to achieve without certain types of minimal external support. And as a final reiteration of the controversies of assuming that native speaker teaching staff usually having a higher command of the language than non-native speakers; there have been cases of FIFO (fly in fly out) lecturers running short courses whose strong native English accents have been quite incomprehensible to student audiences. As a globalized language, any assumption of the supremacy of the native speaker of English as a model communicator is now defunct. It is not only the English language fluency of teaching staff that needs to be considered. This also applies to administrative staff, and, of course, students. The fluency of students is discussed later under recruitment. 17

18 Lever 5 Staff Incentives There is evidence that intrinsic motivation results from engagement in English-taught degree programmes. This relates to the challenge of embarking on teaching in an additional language, the opportunity to use this experience as a change agent, and the opportunities that result from using a global language. Intrinsic motivation has been seen to strengthen over time. At the outset it may not be visible to teaching staff. CHAPTER 1 Governance & Strategy Extrinsic motivation is where the university needs to play a role, particularly during the start-up process. Incentives are introduced in some environments as a form of compensation for the extra time and effort required to produce teaching and learning resources in English, and to adapt individual teaching styles. There will be staff in universities who spend much of their actual teaching time talking some may even describe this as speaking alone through monologue. Although there is space for this in any educator s communication repertoire, it is generally unwise when teaching through an additional language in the current age where a high level of interactive dialogue (through various means) is required. Changing the style of communication inevitably happens when changing the language of teaching and learning. Research has shown negative outcomes where a teacher who may be highly appreciated in the domestic language, becomes less in control when using an additional language. Therefore, planning and guidance needs to be addressed, and the most obvious way to strengthen the scope of the teacher is to have scaffold resources, particularly visual, available. These involve effort to develop and this is why recognition and some form of compensation is an issue. This diminishes over time but research has shown that it can take 300% more time to construct lectures and other formats in the additional language, compared to the domestic language. The most common form of incentive is to reduce the workload of the staff member during the start-up phase. In some cases, extra finance is available for those hours spent teaching in English. However, more sophisticated tools can be used as incentives. One example is to actively support staff time for research, international representation and publishing at the same time as they are contributing to an Englishtaught degree programme. This can be done when one of the objectives of, for example, an MA programme, is to attract and retain students for PhD studies. 18

19 Lever 6 Role of Language Specialists Universities worldwide differ considerably with respect to the role of language specialists. In some environments there is a clear separation between academic and service-oriented departments of languages. This inevitably leads to diverse positioning on organizational hierarchies and status. The status of language specialists is a key issue that needs to be addressed with English-taught degree programmes. In higher education it is rarely effective to detach language learning from subject learning. The two should be combined. About 50% of international students in the UK and Australia are considered to have English language deficit, and this cannot be rectified by short language courses. Integrating language and content can be done in a variety of ways, and the standard Languages for Specific Purposes model may need to be re-configured. In implementing an English-taught degree programme there is an opportunity to restructure the positioning of language specialists. This is done through embedding these people into teaching departments so that they are not viewed as service providers, but as faculty. In addition, there is an opportunity for academic language departments, often called departments of English philology, to examine how the introduction of English-taught degree programmes can facilitate constructive internal change. Both of these examples relate to competence-based education. Departments which do not have a clear working life competences focus will come under increasing negative pressure as the culture of universities continues to change. There does not need to be any gap between academic and competence-based education. When this is argued it is often as a form of elitism rather than pragmatism. All higher education needs to be based on theory, but also lead students to be able to function in society. However there are still universities where language departments operate as in some form of intellectual vacuum, and as trends continue with the marketization of higher education, this puts them at risk. 19

20 Quality language specialists understand both language and communication. This knowledge underpins quality teaching throughout a degree programme. Therefore they should be at the heart of the operation, not an add-on service. The most common scenarios we have seen have been negative in this respect. That is, some hours are allocated for students in English (often at low-efficiency times such as late afternoons) with the language staff acting as support service for the other subject area teaching staff. This is not likely to be an effective use of resources, nor sustainable. CHAPTER 1 Governance & Strategy We live in a world of communication. The role of language learning has changed, mainly because of the digital communications landscape. This impacts on how language functions, how it is taught, and how it is used to learn non-language subjects. The introduction of an English-taught degree programme therefore provides an opportunity to bring communication expertise to the forefront of the teaching and learning of other subject matter. This applies to higher education across the board, from medicine to mechanics, engineering to environmental studies. Lever 7 Linking Programme to Research Linking teaching to research should be self-evident in any higher education operations. Universities should always be in research-mode because it is a basic reason for their existence. Teaching-research links have to be constructed and the English-taught degree programmes can offer a variety of means by which to use these for strengthening both the quality of activities, and also the institutional profile. For many years certain universities have been able to select aspiring students from other countries, supported them through first and second cycle studies, and then into post-graduate doctoral research. This has been particularly the case where objectives have been largely political (educating the future elite of countries) and the pay-off has often been considerable, particularly in the so-called former colonial countries. 20

21 CHAPTER 1 Governance & Strategy (1) ner_docs/pf_jan_07_martyn_stewart_jenkins_an d_healey.pdf (2) F7E3BCD42A C8FC.pdf Now we face a slightly different situation because the parameters have changed. Higher education is looking at greater numbers of potential students, swifter deployment of research and innovation, the potential to radically strengthen research profiles, and through those realizing cutting-edge competitiveness. One solution relates to decision-making on the substance of the English-taught degree programme. If this is a second-cycle programme then there needs to be a clear path towards post-graduate research in that specific field (1). Sometimes when you look at what a university offers in English you see a miscellaneous collection of different subject areas, put together for sometimes quite different reasons, including the foresight and willingness of staff to contribute to a given programme. A strategic decision needs to be considered so that one objective is to attract and retain high calibre (2) students who will continue their career paths studying through cohesive fields of study which are areas of research excellence within the institution. Lever 8 Technologies for Learning Although use of technology is highly advanced in many universities, it may be the case that this is given more investment for operational and administrative functions, rather than teaching and learning. In addition, there is often a wide disparity between teaching staff in terms of their competence and willingness to learn how technologies can enhance teaching and learning. Technology is given specific attention in Chapter 4. However, here we focus on issues of governance and strategy. Investment in hard and software, professional development of staff, fast response technical support, and compatibility require commitment and finance. This is surprisingly lacking in some universities that focus more on purchasing equipment, rather than the development of processes. These processes can enhance cost-efficiency and in the case of English-taught degree programmes, enable rapid internationalization through forms of collaboration. 21

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23 CHAPTER 2 Programme Management Lever 9 Student Intake The reasons why a programme is provided in English is determined by the university strategic action plan. If it is primarily income-generation driven then the student marketing and selection procedures will differ considerably from a programme that is designed to enhance the domestic environment. Student intake is pivotal in ensuring some degree of success, regardless of the overwhelming objectives of the university. We have found that marketing is often weak, which indicates that there is a deficit of understanding of where and how to target potential students. The scenario used here for the sake of exemplification is one where the degree programme is to attract international students so as to enhance equivalent studies by domestic students. Selection procedures for international students are often problematic. Gold standard qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate are clearly highly reliable. But other national qualifications differ enormously in terms of educational credentials. The variations cannot be underestimated, nor can the unscrupulous means by which individuals in certain countries can receive high-grade certification. When selection fails, the knock-on negative effects on the programme can be considerable. This is particularly the case in terms of teaching staff workload, student satisfaction levels, morale, and wastage of resources. Selection needs to involve comprehensive procedures from the outset. These do need to be expensive to administer but ideally certain countries are targeted and local partners in those countries facilitate procedures. Cooperating with other universities and sharing resources can reduce operational costs and maximize quality outcomes. 23